Another Friday and with yet another week of miserable, changeable weather behind us, we decided to venture out again. Chugging out just before three o’clock, the afternoon turned out to be very pleasant but nowhere near what mid August is expected to be. With no specific plan, we were pleasantly surprised to find a mooring place at Market Bosworth. We lit a barbeque and ate out on the deck until the food had gone and air turned chilly.

Saturday saw us pulling on our walking boots and visiting Bosworth Water Park before climbing the hill up to town. A quick trip around the shops for food and then back to the canal before midday. We did a few odd jobs on the boat and ran the engine for a couple of hours to charge the batteries. We fitted a large inverter and a smaller immersion heater last week and this weekend is our chance to test it all. It soon becomes apparent that either the batteries are not charging fully or there are not enough of them to power the larger appliances. By three o’clock we decided to move on for no other reason than we just fancied a change of scenery. Turning round beyond Shackerstone we made our way back and moored near to Congerstone. A quick hike to the village pub for a bottle of wine while dinner cooked and then back just before the rain started. A surprise firework display from Bosworth Battlefield at half past nine rounded off the day.

Sunday morning dawned with sunshine, only the soaked rear deck and the sheer amount of water on the surrounding grass gave any indication of the torrential rain that had woken us in the early hours. Starting at 2am and carrying on for a couple of hours, the steel roof of the boat amplified the sound of the rain tremendously. We set off at eight o’clock and enjoyed the early morning sunshine as we cruised back to Hinckley. High clouds appeared and soon the sun was playing a game of hide and seek, mainly hiding so the temperature never really climbed. We saw a few boats on the water but the trip back was uneventful. Stopping for fuel at the marina, we carried on to Nutts lane and turned around in the entrance to Hinckley Wharf. Once back in the marina, we laid a new vinyl floor in the kitchen area before having dinner on the boat. We eventually packed up and returned home at five o’clock.